How to Hang Heavy Plants From Eaves

by Nicole Vulcan

It's amazing how much charm you can add to your home with simple cosmetic additions, such as a few hanging baskets overflowing with beautiful flowers. By utilizing the eaves -- those support beams near the edge of your porch or roof -- you can add color and character with just a small time investment. The eaves of your house were designed to support the weight of your roof or porch, so in most cases you can rest assured that a few heavy hanging baskets are not going to compromise the integrity of your structure.

Mark the bottom of the eaves where you want to install the hanging baskets. Use a tape measure to ensure you're setting the baskets in the middle of the eave or that you're evenly spacing multiple baskets. Make the marks as close to the edge of the roof as you safely can while still providing support.

Place the baskets on a bathroom scale to check their weight and purchase eye bolts that support that amount of weight plus a little more.

Drill a hole into the eave, using a drill bit that is slightly smaller than the width of your eye bolt. Drill the hole the same length as the eye bolt.

Twist your eye bolt into the pilot hole you drilled until it is as tight as you can get it. The eye bolt should be somewhat difficult to twist into the wood to ensure it is solid enough to keep your hanging basket in place.

Hook chains or rope to the eye bolt so that the chain or rope ends at just above eye-level when you're standing on your porch. Use chain or rope that can support the weight of your hanging basket.

Hook your hanging basket hook to the rope or chain.

Items you will need

Tape measure

Pencil

Bathroom scale

Eye bolts

Drill

Tip

If you have an exposed eave on your porch or deck -- meaning that the eave is open on the top, sides and bottom -- one option is to wrap a chain around the entire eave with a hook at the bottom, instead of drilling a hole and inserting an eye hook into the wood.

Warnings

Inspect the eaves and look for rotting or other damage. If the eaves are not structurally sound, don't install anything heavy on them. If you have concerns about the structural integrity of your eaves, consult a structural engineer, as you may have other, bigger issues to deal with.

Check the eye bolts every few months to ensure they're still solidly in place and not coming loose from the eave.

Resources

About the Author

Nicole Vulcan has been a journalist since 1997, covering parenting and fitness for The Oregonian, careers for CareerAddict, and travel, gardening and fitness for Black Hills Woman and other publications. Vulcan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and journalism from the University of Minnesota. She's also a lifelong athlete and is pursuing certification as a personal trainer.